Category: History Date: 2025-06-15
Old Glory
Below is from the June 1940 CCC Camp American Island newspaper.
OLD GLORY
The month of June contains one day that is important to all Americans. This is the 14th, which is known as Flag Day. The Islander dedicates this page to "Old Glory" and gives a number of facts concerning the U.S. Flag that are interesting to all.
Americans love the flag for what it is and what it represents in the life of the nation.
The flag embodies the purposes and history of the Government itself. It records the achievements of its defenders on land and sea. It tells of sacrifices of our Revolutionary forefathers who died that the United States flag might live.
The flag is the emblem of equal rights. It means universal education and light for every mind, knowledge for every child. In these days when freedom is being attacked from all sides, the flag has greater significance than ever before. Europe, may, in the future, look to this country for the only hope of free civilization and thought.
Even the colors of the flag have their own significance. The red is for valor, typical of the blood that was shed in war for freedom; the white is for purity, emblematic of the principles on which the government was organized; and the blue is for justice, representing loyalty and devotion.
AMERICAN YOUTH
Every American should observe our "Flag Day" (June 14, 1940) in remembrance of the hardships and bloodshed our ancestors sacrificed so that we may be free. Now it is up to our present generation to protect and to preserve "Old Glory" for Americans.
The Flag is a symbol that gives a sense of freedom to all Americans. We have a great advantage over youth of other countries where they are ruled under a dictator or king. Europe is now under rule where the individual, a down-trodden being, has most of his rights taken away. This is even true in England--and the Englishman might never regain his rights.
So, as Americans, even though the going is sometimes hard, let's be always thankful for our freedom and do all we can to protect it. One of the ways in which we can do this is know what "Old Glory" stands for. If we can put forth a third of the work our forefathers did, and make a tenth of the sacrifices, the flag will always stand for what it does now: Freedom.
In order to better understand the work of the CCC in making good citizens out of millions of young men who have enrolled the past six years, we should first determine what a citizen is. That is easy. Anyone who has become naturalized or who was born in the U. S. is a citizen. It is much harder to determine who is a good citizen. One of the greatest teachers of good citizenship is the CCC.
Every man who leaves the CCC will leave a monument behind him--not the projects themselves, but the spirit which he put into his work. Spirit is the thing that makes good citizenship.
Americans love the flag for what it is and what it represents in the life of the nation.
